Religion in Nara and Heian JapanBlair have both explored the appropriation of certain sutras in the context of pilgrimage. Based
on the choice of scriptures chosen for “sutra burials,” Moerman concluded that pilgrims engaged
in this practice for various reasons that surpassed the concern with salvation of the Dharma.
Instead, many engaged in this practice for the sake of saving loved ones or oneself by attaining
rebirth in Miroku’s Tushita Heaven or Amida’s Pure Land.^63 Focusing on the connection between
text and place in Real and Imagined, Blair discusses how pilgrimage and sutra burial on Mount
Kinpusen altered the actual physical landscape. Relying on a theoretical framework inspired by
geographers such as Edward Soja and David Harvey the author discusses Kinpusen’s pilgrimage
at the intersection of real and imagined space and clarifies how the mountain and its landscape
was both received and constructed by the pilgrim.^64
Conclusion
I have attempted to provide a concise overview of some of the major themes of Nara and Heian
period religiosity addressed by Western scholars. As we have seen, recent Western scholarship
has blurred the (anachronistic) modern divisions between traditions and has focused on the ana-
lysis of ritual, devotion, and gender roles. Of course, I was able to present only a cursory over-
view of the vast field of premodern Japanese religions; many other very valuable areas of interest,
such as the importance of imagery in devotional practices, the formation of Shugendō, a form of
mountain worship that contains elements from several traditions, or studies on individual priests
and patriarchs, have not been addressed.^65 Instead, I have focused on areas that I believe will be
prominent in the years to come: the relation between religion and state, ritual, and gender dis-
tinctions; and how all these spheres are closely interconnected. I would like to briefly formulate
the following two suggestions for future purposes.
First, research on premodern Japanese religion and history should attempt to transcend its
geographical area of interest and situate Japanese developments in a larger East Asian context. In
particular the Korean influence on early Japanese developments needs to be further investigated.
Phyllis Granoff and Koichi Shinohara’s Pilgrims, Patrons and Place offers a good example of how
religious practices can be addressed in a wider comparative manner.^66
Second, in order to clarify the overlap between the ritual and textual sphere and demonstrate
the eclectic character of early commentaries and their ritual application, scholars might want to
include studies of early Chinese ritual and textual developments. Scholars such as Michael Gentz
or Martin Kern have conducted in- depth research on the inseparability of the textual and ritual
sphere in early China and it seems that the discussion surrounding the categories “Daoism” and
onmyōdō or the presence of general Chinese ritual practices and terminology in early Japanese
Buddhist histories and commentaries could benefit significantly from their methodology and
insights.^67 Situating Japan in its larger, East Asian context will undoubtedly help us to understand
how ideas from the mainland were received, transformed, and ultimately gave rise to new systems
of thought and religious praxis in later eras.
Notes
1 Abe Ryūichi, The Weaving of Mantra, 179–180.
2 Ivan Morris, The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan, 106; Fabio Rambelli and Mark
Teeuwen, Buddhas and Kami in Japan: Honji Suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm, 3.
3 Brian Ruppert, Jewel in the Ashes, Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan, 192–194.
4 Lori Meeks, “The Disappearing Medium: Reassessing the Place of Miko in the Religious Landscape of
Premodern Japan,” 217.
5 Barbara Ruch, Engendering Faith: Women and Buddhism in Premodern Japan, xliii–xliv.